Build Trust with Your “About Us” Page

It may be the case that only a small proportion of visitors already know your company or have previously ordered from you. For this reason, it makes sense to allow them to look behind the scenes by providing an “About Us” page that lets visitors find about more about you and your business.

In conjunction with detailed product descriptions and high-quality images, an effective “About Us” page can persuade visitors as they decide whether to buy from your online shop. When potential customers become aware of your shop as a result of a Google search, for example, they will seek an understanding of not just your product range but also your team and company.

Particularly before placing their first order, customers often attempt to minimize their personal risk by looking for reassuring information about the operation. Many shops, however, fail to provide visitors with good-enough details of those operating the shop or their motivations for doing so.

An effective “About Us” page can therefore represent a valuable way of building your visitors’ trust in your work. The section also offers smaller online merchants in particular a powerful way of showing what makes their shop so special. Below, are my tips for designing your “About Us” page.

Seek inspiration from others

Before starting work on your page, take some time to conduct a little research. For example, what do the “About Us” pages look like for shops that you yourself have seen and valued? Similarly, take a look at your competitors’ pages. Consider specific ways in which you can highlight additional experience and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Write for your customers

You no doubt already know some of your customers well. Perhaps you operate a bricks-and-mortar shop alongside your e-commerce activities or you have met some of your customers at events or trade fairs. Think about the kind of questions you have been asked by customers. What issues were especially important and what keywords tended to arise?

Tell your story

What were your reasons for setting up your shop? In what circumstances did you start your business? Did you perhaps decide to turn a hobby into your job or was there a specific situation that gave rise to your business idea? Be sure to emphasize key events in your mission and give your customers a succinct overview of your company story.

Introduce yourself

It’s a great idea to include friendly, natural photographs in the “About Us” area of your shop to give it a more personal feel. If you do this, we recommend that you employ a professional photographer to take pictures of you and your team using good lighting and set-up.

With a little thought, there will surely be unique philosophies or approaches for you to detail. For example, what do you see as important in your work? Perhaps you believe in sustainable trading by only using environmentally friendly packaging? This is the kind of information that can help your visitors to really buy into your mission as well as your products.

Talk about your strengths

What is your shop’s “unique selling point” – and why exactly should your visitors buy from you? Show them your strengths and the things that make your company special, such as the years of experience you bring to your field or the lengths to which you go to source the best products.

Ratings from any third parties that recommend your products and service levels are a great way of emphasizing your strengths. This is why it makes sense to refer to any awards you may have won on your “About Us” page. If you received great praise from a particularly happy customer, do ask them to use their positive review together with their names as testimonials on your site.

Use a clear design and structure

Before writing your page, consider the structure for the page overall. Use headings and rearrange them so you have a logical order for the content. This will make writing easier and ensure the content is interesting for the audience.

Be sure to place your “About Us” page in a visible position within your shop. To ensure it is easily found, it makes sense to include the page as a specific menu item in the site navigation structure. Listing it within the footer area will mean your visitors can access it at any time, from any page.

Some questions to help you

Here are some useful questions to help you arrange your thoughts when compiling your “About Us” page:

•What were your reasons for setting up your shop?

•How long has your business been trading?

•Do you use any other channels, such as a bricks-and-mortar shop, to sell your goods?

•What makes your business special?

•How do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?

•What does your company sell?

•Who benefits from your products?

Share and collaborate

Interestingly, psychologists believe that the need to share a passion for products is an inbuilt craving in us all. Consumers clearly prefer a retailer who they can trust as an expert on a topic. Use your social media channels to tell your story and show how you love the products or services you sell. You can boost exposure by having your “About Us” page linked to useful hobbyist or professional body websites. Similarly, by celebrating the pages of other similar retailers, you can access a wider community of relevant customers.

As Head of Corporate Communication for ePages, Richard Stevenson has been in the Web hosting and e-commerce software industry for around 13 years, many of which working directly with SMEs all over the world to drive Web adoption and awareness for e-business and e-commerce activities.